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Monday, January 2, 2017

Belgrade handles record passenger numbers

NEWS FLASH

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport welcomed a record 4.924.664 passengers in 2016, cementing its position as the busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia. The figure represents growth of 3.1% compared to 2015 and its best year to date. On average, some 13.492 travellers used the airport's services each day, or 562 each hour. During the month of December, the airport saw 343.865 passengers pass through its doors, up 12% on the year before.

Combined growth for 2015 and 2016 is only 6.1%. That places Belgrad among slower growing aerodromes in the region. Air Serbia had blitz growth in 2014 but stopped growing big after. Now other aerodromes will continue to grow faster than Belgrad.

Why would it ? Aside from JU, BEG only has AZ and EY fly here from within their group and neither of those 2 airlines are likely to change their current schedules into BEG.

What JU does over the summer will certainly impact on BEG, but BEG will have a full year of JFK flights, as well as more JU flights over the current winter season (vs last year), so BEG airport should have a bumper year in 2017 - especially if a Chinese carrier ends up flying to BEG as well.

So close! Ugh!! Anyway...Congratulations!! And in regard to those saying that Belgrade is slowly reaching its ceiling, I think they couldn't be more wrong. There's plenty more opportunities for building up on this hub strategy, plenty of passengers to be taken from Bucharest and more importantly - Istanbul. Also I personally believe that Belgrade DOES in fact have potential for growing its own tourism and becoming a destination in its own right. So good luck!And happy new year everyone!!

Happy new year!I think you have a point. Belgrade and Serbia have to work much more on their tourism offer. There should be much more than cheap food and drink. There is, but is not available. The National Museum is closed for over a decade, the Museum of Modern Art almost as long. Almost nothing was invested in other cultural institutions, which look like they did 40 years ago. It is unfortunate if you want to learn more about Belgrade and Serbia. In addition, the city has no underground, rail connections are in a really bad shape.

I don't think so, Budapest is a bigger city than Beograd, much more tourism, foreign investment is at least ten times that of Beograd, plus many more head and regional head offices.BEG is doing OK considering the circumstances.

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LIVERY OF THE WEEK

Jetstar special

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Australian low cost carrier Jetstar has unveiled a special livery on one of its Airbus A320s to promote the first country-specific version of the board game Scrabble. Manufacturer Mattel has included a list of local slang in its official glossary that are also featured on the jet, including words such as "Bonza", "Mollydooker" and "Devo". The A320 also includes the airline's name spelled out with Scrabble tiles. The jet is being used on both domestic and international routes and features Scrabble branding inside the cabin as well

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Lufthansa, easyJet favourites for Air Berlin

Lufthansa Group and UK-based easyJet have been selected as preferred bidders for the main assets of the insolvent Air Berlin, the German carrier has confirmed. Lufthansa also submitted a bid for Air Berlin's Austria-based subsidiary Niki, which could be integrated into its LCC arm Eurowings. Air Berlin administrator Lucas Flother had planned to keep these decisions confidential until September 25, after Germany’s general elections. Air Berlin said in a statement that the creditors’ committee will continue talks with the two carriers until October 12 with the aim of selling Air Berlin's air transport assets. Talks with bidders interested in other assets will continue in parallel. Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr said at a media event in Frankfurt that Lufthansa’s bid for Air Berlin's assets is focused on securing the 38 Airbus A319/320s it wet leases from Air Berlin. The Star Alliance member is also interested in a further 20 to 40 aircraft, without creating antitrust concerns. Those 38 wet-leased aircraft carry about 1.000 passengers a day, mainly for LCC Eurowings, and Lufthansa’s priority is to keep that operation stable. Lufthansa would need around 3.000 new employees as it seeks to build market share following the exit of Air Berlin, which has 8.000 employees. However, Lufthansa is not interested in Air Berlin's long-haul routes because it said Eurowings can grow this segment on its own. Air Berlin will end long-haul operations September 25.
Source: ATW